Fireflies
by Orangest Blossom
Summary: Jade's life in three days. Written for 7 days of Vic prompts. Cade friendship, mentions of Bade. T for slight language and mentions of alcoholism, partying, etc.


Seven-year-old Jade  
Was a dreamer.

(She doesn't look like the type, does she?

She loved her parents  
And her best friend Cat,  
Who went to Kindergarten with her  
(And now they went to the same elementary school!)

But her favorite person  
In the whole, whole world,  
Was her Aunt Mara.

Mara was different.  
(She was her mom's sister.)  
She had a lot of money  
And a lot of boyfriends  
And loved to travel  
(And party.)

Jade's dad didn't like her...  
He thought she was a- what was it?  
"Negative influence."

But Jade loved her.

"Come on, Jadey," she'd say,  
"Look at the stars with me."

Jade loved the cool, crisp mid-November air  
She loved how bright the stars were  
In Mara's little town.

The view of the sky was so pretty  
From the hill in her aunt's backyard.

"I love the stars, Jade...  
You know, my dad  
Used to show me the constellations?  
Those are like pictures you can find in the sky."  
Aunt Mara pointed up.  
"That one's Hercules.  
He's very strong.  
There's Cygnus, the swan..."

Jade tried to follow her aunt's hand.  
She wanted to see the pictures, too.  
"Your daddy showed you these?  
Mine doesn't."

"I'll believe that," her aunt snorted.  
Jade frowned.  
"He's very serious, isn't he?  
Strictly business."

"Not much time for family," Jade murmured,  
Looking down at her hands.

"I guess not," Mara sighed.  
"Always working, isn't he?"

"Yep..."

Mara frowned.  
Abruptly she switched topics.

"You know what my name means, Jadey?"

Jade shook her head.

"Mara means bitter-  
That's like angry.  
I try not to be too much like my name.  
Your father works hard,  
And, I promise,  
He loves you."

Jade shrugged-  
Because hadn't Daddy forgotten her  
At kindergarten last year?  
Weren't he and Mom always fighting?  
Didn't he always stay late at work?

"He does," Mara said definitely.  
"He loves you and your mom very much."  
Then, changing the subject,  
"Oh, look- fireflies!"

Jade lifted her head  
To gaze, bewildered,  
At the hundreds of little lights  
Flying around her head.

"You don't have those in Los Angeles,  
Do you?" Aunt Mara said proudly.

"What are they?" Jade said, still in awe.

"They're little beetles,  
With pretty lights on the end.  
Look-"  
She caught one easily out of the air.

Jade stared, astonished.

"They're harmless, I promise.  
Aren't they nice? Here, you hold-"  
Aunt Mara passed it carefully to Jade,  
Who admired the little light  
That was encased in her hand.

"Cooool," she whispered.

"Tell you what-  
I'll get a jar,  
Then we'll see how many we can catch."

That night,  
They caught 47 fireflies  
All on their own.  
Jade loved catching them  
And staring through the glass in the jar,  
But her favorite part was setting them free.

"Ready, Jade?  
One, two, three..."  
And they unscrewed the lid.

All at once,  
All the little bugs flew out,  
Like a million tiny arrows  
From a million tiny bows,  
Their bright tails  
Making the air around them glow,  
Shooting straight up  
Towards the night sky.  
-

Skip ahead a few years.

Jade was thirteen now.  
Her parents had been divorced for five years,  
Her dad remarried for three and a half,  
And her little half-brother Charlie  
Had just turned two...  
And too much partying,  
Too much drinking  
Had taken her Aunt Mara's life  
Just six days ago.

Jade was at her funeral now.

She didn't cry.

(She wasn't sure she could,  
She hadn't for years.)

Instead, she just sort of stared at the coffin  
Which was already nailed shut.  
Not many people were there...  
Jade's Uncle Richard,  
Her cousin Alexa, who was four,  
Her great-aunt Margot...

(Her mother had stopped by  
For about twenty minutes  
Then left.)

Her dad actually pulled her aside.

(Jade had asked for the ride from him,  
But was surprised he'd stayed.)

"You sure you don't just want to go?  
I have a meeting at four..."

(She didn't know what she expected.)

Refusing to look at her father,  
Jade chose to keep staring  
At the closed casket instead  
"I happened to like her."

Her father sighed impatiently.  
"She's just too much like your mother,  
And in the end it got the best of her.  
A bit too much of a free spirit,  
A little too wild..."

Jade laughed bitterly.  
"Too hard for you to control, you mean.  
Definitely not the kind of people  
You'd want your colleagues  
To know you're related to."  
Her lips twisted into an odd grin.  
"Just like me, right, Dad?"

She walked away,  
Hoping to find some food  
In this goddamned funeral home...

(If she had to spend another minute  
In the same room of that coffin  
She'd either scream  
Or break down  
And neither was an option.)

It was sophomore year now  
And there had been another painful split...

But no,  
This time it had been Cat  
Who had a broken heart.

She texted Jade  
About seven times  
That her three-month boyfriend Justin  
Had ditched her at Nozu  
For some blond chick  
Whose chest was bigger than Cat's head.

Jade's phone was charging,  
And she had no idea about Cat's predicament.  
Until about an hour late.

She was about to text her  
When her phone rang  
And guess who it was-

"Oh my gosh, Jade,  
He just ditched me  
For this girl  
Right when I was about  
To suggest we become exclusive...  
I j-just-"

"Cat.  
Okay, calm down...  
Cat. CAT.  
Listen-  
Ugh...  
Look, do you wanna come over?"  
Jade spoke without thinking  
(She was actually planning  
On going over to Beck's that night...)  
But still,  
She wasn't about to take it back  
Since Cat was crying so hard.

And so  
Cat came over  
And they watched some pathetic chick flick  
And ate popcorn, disregarding calories  
And cried  
(Or, Cat did.)

"Feel better?" Jade asked  
As they watched Cher catch the bouquet.

"Nooooo," Cat sighed.  
"I just wish...  
I feel like crap, Jade.  
And this blonde  
Who has a better chance at happiness than me  
Isn't helping!"  
Jade wasn't sure  
Is she was talking about  
The chick she was ditched for  
Or the girl in the movie,  
But either way  
Cat broke down again  
(She'd never taken loss too well.)

Jade sighed.  
She was never good with crying people  
Or upset people  
Or people at all,  
Not since she was at least-  
Six? Seven?  
Aunt Mara's death  
Had sort of taken that out of her.

It was with that thought in mind  
That Jade stood  
Turned off the TV  
And dragged Cat onto her feet.

"What?" Cat sighed.

"I get that  
Some boy was a jerk.  
But there is no way in hell  
That I'm letting you sulk around  
Because of some grade-A butthole  
That definitely doesn't deserve you.  
We're going to the roof."

"What's on the roof?"  
Cat sniffled slightly.

Jade sighed.  
"You'll see when we get up there."  
(She crossed her fingers  
That it wouldn't be cloudy.)

In a few minutes,  
Cat was seated next to Jade  
On top of the West family's  
Giant house...

And  
While there weren't  
As many stars in LA,  
The view wasn't bad.

"Jade, it's so pretty...  
Why don't we ever  
Hang out up here?"

Jade shrugged.  
"I used to come up here a lot...  
When my parents fought,  
During the divorce,  
When Rachel and Dad got married...  
I used to try and look for the constellations,  
Before I realized  
You can't see them too well up here.  
I don't have any good memories  
Attached to this house,  
Including the roof...  
It kinda reminds me  
Of everything that went wrong since..."  
She broke off.  
"Still, though,  
I though you'd like it."

Cat nodded  
And they just sat for a moment  
Looking up at the sky  
When she suddenly squealed,  
"Look, Jade-  
Fireflies!"

She pointed up  
And there they were.

"Try and catch one."

Cat stood shakily  
(Thank God the roof was flat)  
And reached out.  
One practically flew  
Right into her palm  
And she closed her fist around it.  
She turned back to Jade,  
Smiling.

"I've always loved these," Cat sighed happily.

"Same,"  
Jade half-grinned in spite of herself.  
"And now,  
You can do the best part-  
Open your hand  
And set it free."


End file.
